Vengeance
by ode to the seventh
Summary: "... every single sound that echoes throughout the mountain sends warning bells off in Ninetales' mind, but still, she remains in her home and waits, because she does not know what to expect, and not being able to expect what she knows will attack is too dangerous in the land of the frozen."


**- : vengeance : -**

Ninetales rests in her home at the top of Mt. Freeze, head resting on her paws and tails swishing behind her in a bored manner. Despite the lovely view from her mountain, which depicts the Snowy Path and Frozen Forest beautifully, the fire-type merely wishes for something exciting. Below her, through the wide mouth leading out to the frigid land before her, the fox Pokémon spots a group of Swablu drift by in their small formations, and a gang of Seviper tails a squad of Zangoose, most likely off to steal the Sevipers' eggs from their nests as they prowl about for victims. A Glalie passes by the group, apathetic to their squabble, and pushes on toward the higher reaches of the mountain after a long day of observing the caves and ravines within.

The golden-furred fox Pokémon, amidst the hushed rustling of the leafless trees' branches and the Pokémons' raucous battles below, hears a soft crash below her, in the lower levels of Mt. Freeze's peak. The cry of a Shelgon, the roar of a Slaking, the loud explosion of a Pupitar self-destructing: every single sound that echoes throughout the mountain sends warning bells off in Ninetales' mind, but still, she remains in her home and waits, because she does not know what to expect, and not being able to expect what she knows will attack is too dangerous in the land of the frozen.

Nearly an hour passes, but eventually, Ninetales is able to decipher the sound that she had heard not too long ago: the sound of clumsy footsteps, attempting to find a foothold in the icy floor, and the wails of the Pokémon of her mountain - her sacred dungeon - in danger, captured without warning. The footfalls approach, and within seconds, a sphere of red and white is hurtled toward her before she is able to spot the intruder of her land.

She dodges, but just barely; still, two presences are behind her, and when Ninetales turns to examine whoever has trespassed into her territory, a thin but tanned hand, calloused from years of taking and taking and taking, grabs hold of one of her tails. The fox Pokémon howls and barks at the attacker, snaps at the human's arm, and feels the urge upon her to curse him. She does not even realize what she has done by the time the young man is standing a ways away, cradling a bag filled with the spheres of red and white to his chest, and the embrace Pokémon previously behind the human has fallen to the ground.

"Do you wish to save Gardevoir?" she asks the young man after a moment of silence, the wind howling through Mt. Freeze. His hair, darker than the night sky in winter, shifts and she catches his terrified gaze. However, by the time she has barely finished speaking to him, he has turned away and fled the scene, his partner left on the ground.

Almost sorely, Ninetales sits and watches the Gardevoir twitch for a moment, breathing heavily and body wracking with shivers from the pain of the curse. After a time, the green-haired Pokémon before Ninetales rises with as much grace as possible from her crumpled position with sorrow on her humanlike face.

"What will become of my master?" Gardevoir asks Ninetales, so softly that the golden-haired Pokémon has to strain herself to hear.

Ninetales chuckles wryly to herself and stands, her very being radiating power and grandeur, and inclines her head toward the captured Pokémon. "That human will one day be reborn as a Pokémon," she starts with a motion toward the exit of the cave, leading toward the lower levels of the mountain. "And when that human becomes a Pokémon…"

Trailing off lightly, a solemn expression suddenly overriding her features, Ninetales turns to the mouth of her cave and watches the small, antlike form that she knows is the man from before scurry away and out of the Frozen Forest. Gardevoir tilts her head inquisitively, and Ninetales understands the unspoken question.

Despite everything that she has grown to know, everything that she has grown to love, and everything that she has grown to despise, the fox Pokémon almost regrets placing a curse for the first time in her life, and she wonders if, should she have been able to curse the human rather than his partner, she would have still offered to save him. However, she dismisses the thought and offers Gardevoir a fanged smile that she hopes does not look as threatening as she believes it does.

"… The world's balance will be upset."


End file.
